I saw it rising on the horizon, draped in white, shining in its full glory, wide and bright.

The full moon night is here, and this time its the biggest and brightest of 2010, because its closer to earth than usual. What a spectacle it is, with the reddish object, Mars just to the left of the full moon. The moon has been rising early lately before the sun sets, but today it rose late, around 7ish covered among the clouds, before it illuminates the winter sky.

We took few shots of the first new moon of 2010, appearing 30% brighter and 14% wider. The features of the moon appear so clearly:) Tonight's full moon is also known as 'the wolf moon', a name given by the Native Americans, who believed that packs of hungry wolves howled at the full moon on cold nights; besides they had a different full moon name for each month. The night sky has been quite a visual treat this month. On January 1st, we saw the colorful side of the moon.
There were two faint coloured rings around the moon as thin clouds passed by, on googling I found out that these are called 'lunar coronas' caused by the diffraction of moon light by the clouds.


It had several colours and lasted for just few minutes, but it had an incredible depth and it was emitting energy that can absorb your mind, an uplifting experience indeed! So spare few minutes to observe the night sky, the celestial bodies can take you high! Read the complete post...

Traveling around the country in vans, living in open fields, following an age-old tradition of selling Ayurvedic jadibuti (medicinal and aromatic plants)), is the lifestyle of a nomadic tribe from Satna district in Madhya Pradesh.

We came across group of families settled on a barren land with tents pitched adjacent to each other and vans parked behind them. As curiosity built up we found out more about these nomads, who are leading a challenging life.

"We collect jadibuti (plants) growing in the wild from all over the country (from Haridwar to Mumbadevi in Mumbai) or purchase them sometimes and develop different kinds of medicines meant for several diseases. This practice has been passed on from seven generations, just the way you study in school we study this from childhood," explained Rajiv Singh, a serious-looking fellow from the tribe. Initially he was a bit hesitant to speak, thinking we would highlight or write negative things about them. But after convincing that we were genuinely keen on knowing about their nomadic way of living, he spoke quite freely. There were around 25-30 of them who got together in this remote village on the outskirts of Mumbai. Each family sets up their shop in the market, selling medicines priced between Rs 50 to Rs 500. "The cost of the medicines is quite cheap and we guarantee the customer about his/her recovery. After which many of them give us rewards, which is much more than the actual cost of the medication," said Rajiv.

We walked around the place taking pictures, which generated some interest among the tribe, especially this man, Vikram Singh, who happily posed with his kids. His wife was kind enough to offer us a glass of water and told us to come back again in five days when they all adorn nice outfits and perform Durga puja. They also cook up a meal of Puris where they immerse their own hands in the hot ghee to remove the puri when its cooked.
This woman dressed in traditional Ghagra Choli plucking out spinach leaves to cook for her family. While the kids were more than happy to strike a pose. The nomadic tribe travels to all parts of India with their wives and kids for eight months and the remaining four months are spent in their hometown village in Satana. "We all have concrete houses in our village, and we return home during monsoons," said another middle-aged man who had traveled from Mumbai. The duration of their stay at a place completely depends on the amount of earnings and demand for Ayurvedic medicines. It can range from 10 days to two months. We asked some of them where they were heading, the response was quite simple, "We don't know, we haven't decided yet."

Each family heads to a different part of the country and they set up their shops, they then coordinate as to where they will meet on occasions or for business discussions and come together again. Wandering through unknown pastures to keep alive an ancient practice, the nomads sure lead an adventurous life! Read the complete post...

We are settling into our new home and discovering the wonders of living close to nature. Something which would be lacking in a city, where urban dwellers aiming to lead a greener lifestyle end up paying much more for a product and are often left with quality thats not up to the mark.

Maybe there is a chance to escape part of this system with the help of the divine cactus, Aloe Vera. You would have heard of Aloe Vera, often used in shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers, medicines, toothpaste and much more.

Recently we tried using the juice of the plant to apply on the skin as a moisturizer. Bhavika being a little skeptical wanted to do a little research before using it, thanks to her we stumbled upon the umpteen reasons to use this divine cactus.
The juice acts like a natural moisturizer on the body, when applied on the hair it stops irritation of the scalp, reduces hair fall, and makes the hair soft and shiny. It also has a cooling effect on the body, this were few benefits we discovered after using Aloe Vera.

We now plan on testing if Aloe works as a sun screen as well, Bhavika has really sensitive skin so she is the guinea pig for now. :)

You can get a good quantity of Aloe juice from a big fat leaf, we took a couple of pictures of the steps involved in extracting Aloe juice.
Firstly you need to get an Aloe plant, and yes they can grow in pots as well so its easy to have one anywhere. When you cut out a leaf, you notice a yellow latex or sap oozing out of it, this is not suppose to be used as its an irritant.

So you basically hang the leaf or keep it in a tilted position until the oozing stops. Once thats done you can slice off the thorny sides of the leaves.
Then slice off the flat side of the leaf with a knife, you will see good amount of juice beginning to drip out when you do that. You can then scoop out the inside gel with either a spoon or slice out as much as you can with a knife.

The first time we extracted aloe juice we directly put the gel in a muslin cloth and squeezed it, we collected a good amount of gel and juice. By blending the gel and then using a muslin cloth you get a lot more juice with very little gel remaining.
We managed to get a little more than 400 ml of the divine cactus juice from 5 medium sized aloe leaves. If you don't want to extract you can simply cut off a leaf, drain out the yellow sap and apply it directly on your skin.
Aloe has been used for over 500 years

Aloe Vera is known as Ghrit Kumari in Sanskrit and has been used in Ancient Indian Ayurveda. Its use as a healing agent goes back thousands of years, for the Egyptians its the 'plant of immortality' and supposedly placed as a burial gift in tombs of the pharaohs. Strange that a plant with so many qualities has not made its way into all our homes a long time ago.
According to Ayurvedic medicine, Aloe Vera has,

Antibiotic Properties that can be used to treat various skin ailments, sun burns, healing of cuts, wounds and scratches. Aloe gel has many therapeutic healing properties.

Analgesic Properties that inhibit pain, thus Aloe Vera gel is used in dental treatments and the treatment of mouth ulcers, sores, blisters etc. Its also used to treat piles, hemorrhoids, indigestion, constipation

Growth Stimulating Properties that stimulate the growth and formation of new cells. So it helps in curing burns as aloe penetrates the skin and removes the dead cells caused by infection, and forms new cells.

You can read more about the benefits of Aloe Vera and its uses in Ayurveda here and here.

The Aloe juice can also be consumed, but we are yet to try that out. Read the complete post...

As the day approached closer the excitement was building mixed with shades of anxiety, of course in a good way. We did tie the knot in church but the Jain wedding was going to be a slightly bigger affair.

Traditionally Gujaratis have the Mehendi ceremony, two days prior to the wedding, where a henna designer or some relative applies mehendi to the bride's hands and feet. Its intricately designed with a bridal theme consisting of dhol, shehnai, flowers, groom's initials, peacock, and many more artistic connotations of a marriage, and the bride's family and friends celebrate the occasion by singing songs and applying mehendi as well.

Bhavika's mehendi ceremony was minus all the hype and just a homely affair.
She was happy that it turned out to be beautiful, of course its a momentous occasion for the bride. Its a belief that darker the colour of the mehendi, the more bride is loved by her husband and in-laws. This sweet ritual of mehendi signifies the strength and power of love in a marriage.

There are innumerable things to be sorted and organised as you come closer to the day. The big day arrived and there was a short ritual in the morning at Bhavika's place before the elaborate rituals of the Gujarati wedding started. There were few butterflies in the stomach, which I guess is a normal feeling. Coming to the clothes, the bride has to wear the traditional Panetar saree, which is a combination of white and red with bandhani design imprinted on them.

It took Bhavika under 2 hours to get ready and that was followed by a short photo session with the usual bridal poses. Another pose holding a coconut, that features in many customs and is considered to be a sign of good luck. The bride's uncle (mother's brother) presents the bride Chudi Kakan, chudi are red bangles while kakan are made of glass with uneven surface that means life is full of highs and lows. In the picture below uncle's wife is putting on the Chudi for Bhavika. While that is being done, Clyde, the bridegroom, arrived at the venue with his family. He is not suppose to look at the bride yet, but we both were looking out for each other. The groom usually wears Chudidar or Sherwani with a turban (known as Saafa in Gujarati).

The arrival of the groom and his family is called Ponkvu, which marks the official beginning of the Gujarati wedding. The groom is asked to step onto a bajat (low wooden stool) where Bhavika's Kaki (father's brother's wife) applied the traditional red tikka on Clyde's forehead and handed him a Shrifal (coconut) as a symbol of good luck. The Maharaj (person conducting the ceremony) chants mantras as the groom is given the ceremonial welcome. At the end the groom has to break a clay pot filled with rice before seeing the bride. Once that is done, Bhavika's maternal uncle led her to the groom, then she walked around Clyde few times before exchanging garlands. During this entire ritual the groom has to remove his shoes, and that's when Bhavika's sister and cousins hide his shoes and later on ask for money in exchange of his shoes. Clyde gave up too soon and had to shell out Rs 1000 to get his shoes back. Now that was fun, as the groom tries to move away couple of times making it difficult for the bride to put the garland around him. Bhavika had to try at least 5 times before succeeding to put the garland.:) Everybody had a good laugh. The ceremony now begins on a serious note. After the welcoming of the groom and the short rendezvous between the bride and the groom for the first time during the wedding, we both proceeded to the stage or mandap, where we again exchanged beautiful garlands. Then the Maharaj asked us to sit in front of each other as he tied a thread around us, binding us together with holy mantras. Bhavika's two sisters, real and one cousin sister, were called to the mandap to hold an antarpaat or curtain which separates the bride from her groom. This is also called Kanya Agamana, and as the Maharaj begins chanting the mantras, the antarpaat is lowered. At the same time the Maharaj ties a cotton cloth around the groom to the sari of the bride, this is known as Hasta Milap, an important ritual in a marriage. The tying of the knot and the joined hands of the bride and groom has a deeper meaning since it symbolises the union of the two hearts and souls. Luckily all the rituals didn't go on for long, and we were kind of enjoying it. After Hasta Milap, we had to perform Mangal Pheras, which means taking rounds besides a diya or lamp stuck in kneaded flour. There is a difference in customs, as in Jain marriage there are only four pheras, compared to seven in Hindu weddings and instead of the sacred fire there is only a diya or a lamp. Part of this ceremony were Bhavika's cousin brother and Kaki. At the start of every phera or round Bhavika's Kaki put water in her hand with a the betel leaf and then her cousin would put the leaf with the betel nut on it. The Maharaj explained the significance of each phera to us before bowing in front of the Diya. Since the mandap was a bit narrow, we had to take small steps and Clyde often stepped on my sari. We don't exactly remember what the four Jain pheras represent, but this is what we managed to grasp, one phera symbolized respecting each ones religions and beliefs, one phera was for laxmi, thats for wealth, the third was for shakti or strength and the fourth was for moksha or enlightenment. We weren't officially married until the Mangal Sutra, symbol of marriage in India, is attached around the bride's neck. For those who don't know about Mangal Sutra, it is a gold ornament strung from a yellow thread, a string of black beads or a gold chain. Just like how a wedding ring is exchanged in a church wedding. We were officially married for the second time, earlier being the church wedding, after an hour and fifteen minutes long ritual. :) So to end the ceremony on a lighter note, Maharaj included a fun-filled game of Aeki Beki, which is generally played at the groom's house, but we had it during the wedding itself. We were given a thali filled with betel nuts and each one had to take a fistful of nuts and the other person had to guess whether it was odd or even. We had 3 rounds each and they say that the winner dominates the marriage. So who was the winner of this odd and even game, haha, it upto you to guess! There is an ancient practice in India of bowing in front of elders to seek their blessings on momentous occasions. So there we were, taking blessings from all our elders, relatives etc. Each person gives a small token in the form of money.

Once this was done, we went to the room where the Maharaj conducted the last ritual of the wedding, as we celebrated with some sweet. Then it was time to rejoice with family and friends and some good food!
This was a short journey into a new chapter in our lives, we seek your kind words and best wishes! Read the complete post...

Its been a wild journey full of highs and lows. We traversed the hills and forests, lived in the wild and urban jungles, we fell apart and were pieced together bit by bit.

Finally after years of nurturing each others love, we decided to tie the knot. Due to the enormous amount of planning and preparation that precedes a wedding, we have not been able to update this blog.

It kick started with the Marriage Preparation course, which is mandatory for couples getting married in church, organized by the Snehalaya Family Center.

It was a weekend course where they teach you various aspects about married life, changes and adjustments that needs to be made, its kind of like why men are from Mars and women from Venus, they also spoke about positive communication and how to have a fair fight without letting it go out of hand. Of course there's a lot more to it than that, so it would be advisable for any couple getting married to take up that course. Since we follow different faiths, we chose to get married both ways, so we had a Church wedding on 15th November and the Jain ceremony on 20th November.

The 15th was decided two weeks prior to the day itself, leaving us with little time to organize things. Shopping, planning, meeting relatives, designing cards, decorators, everything happened thanks to our helpful relatives and friends, not to mention a lot of hard work put in by both of us, its not easy getting married :) But the point is of enjoying every moment of it, and we sure did! In order to proceed with the church wedding we had to first fill up something known as the Pre-Nuptial Enquiry form, in the church where you want the wedding to take place or the Parish you belong to.

Once thats done either you can depend on the Church to send the documents (including an affidavit of the non-Catholic party) to the Arch Bishops house at Colaba or do it yourself. We chose the latter option due to the time constraints, but it took merely 15 minutes at the Bishop's house to get the documents approved. We then gave it back to the Parish Priest, who reconfirms the date and time of the nuptial rites. The nuptial rites is the exchange of rings and vows which is the main ceremony of getting married in the Roman Catholic Church.

There was no wedding mass and the rites sometimes are not allowed to take place in church, due to the fact that its an interfaith marriage. So the day finally arrived and in the presence of a few family members from both sides we tied the knot. It was a short ceremony that lasted around 20-25 minutes, short and sweet it was!
Now this part was confusing, we had Brunch at South Indian restaurant called Banana Leaf, while part of Clyde's family had lunch at his sisters place.

Since Bhavika's family is pure veg, its difficult for them to be seen around the Sorpotel :) So a feast awaited us. The meal was delicious, very filling and worth the cost. We enjoyed the Idlis cooked in Malabari Stew, yummy yummy and a variety of Dosas. After the heavy brunch, we headed to his sisters house to attend the guests there and cut this gorgeous wedding cake, that his sister had ordered from her friend. It was beautifully decorated with doves, rings, flowers and the absolutely mouth-watering insides. She also took the trouble to put some decoration up, which is much appreciated and of course we cut the cake, it was a special moment in our lives. Thats the two love birds :), coming up next is the Jain wedding ceremony. Read the complete post...

"Hey Tony, have a nice trip in India. Don't waste your time in Kasol, go further up to Spiti or Kinnaur (in Himachal Pradesh) or some more beautiful places. You should make good use of your stay here," explained one of the experienced traveller to a young Israeli boy leaving Dharamkot, which is around 10kms from Dharamsala.

In our articles based on our month-long trip to Himachal Pradesh we have mentioned about the growing number of Israelis visiting certain parts of India. This small advice given by a middle-aged woman to a young traveler speaks a lot about the prevailing condition.

India is a hospitable country and everyone is welcomed. But at quite a few places in Himachal - Manali, Kasol, Dharamkot - we felt like strangers coming from a different country. Shop hoardings inscribed in Hebrew, cafes catering only to Israelis, locals being more friendly to them and not too welcoming to others, were some of the observations we made during our trip.

In Israel military service is mandatory for men for three years and women for a minimum of two years after going through brain washing activities, the younger lot leaves everything behind and heads to India in search of fun, solace and drugs. What they don't leave behind is the arrogant and brash attitude, often associated with them.

Our interactions with some of them were not very memorable. We were seated in a cafe at Dharamkot having our breakfast, when a mother and a kid walked in, giving out chocolates to everyone in the cafe, I guess it was her sons' birthday. She distributed chocolates to every Israeli in the cafe, she never approached us! This is a very small event, its not about the chocolate, but a small act like this can speak a lot.

Watch this video below showing the ignorant behaviour of Israelis at a guest house, and it's made by an Israeli production, so good they recognize that as well. Its a lovely video and a funny way of looking at things.

No wonder at the places I mentioned earlier in Himachal, there was a Rabbi, looking after the runaways, probably guiding them on a better path? Read the complete post...

We were back in Dharamkot after the failed attempt to trek to Kareri lake. Our trip was coming to an end, unfortunately, I always hate this part. We had to board a bus to Delhi and from there take a train back to Mumbai. We checked out early from Internet guest house for some last minute shopping in the little Tibetan market in McLeod Ganj.

We walked down the main market road of McLeod Ganj, where lots of Tibetan artifacts were sold, like the singing bowls, wool work, hand bags, incense sticks and lots more. We bought some herbal incense, some carry bags and a book cover for the family. Although we wouldn't recommend to buy incense as it doesn't seem to stay lit for long.

A travel companion recommended we tried out Tibetan specialty butter tea at Olga cafe, situated in the heart of the market. It was nice, very different in taste, cost just Rs 15 a cup.

On getting back to Bombay we realized its possible to make that butter tea with the local Amul butter, and it tasted the same.
After that we rushed to board the bus that was leaving from the depot just a couple of minutes away. Our journey was quick, no hang ups this time, we arrived in Delhi around 6.30 am to be surrounded by taxi and rickshaw guys trying to fleece us. After bargaining we managed to hook up a taxi ride to a friend's house in Gurgaon.

The funniest moment of our trip, we realized that another friend had not managed to get tickets for us to get back to Mumbai. We had to bear the scorching heat of Delhi, it was hot, really hot. We were amazed to find people walking about in the 42 degree Celsius temperature.

We had nothing to do in Gurgaon and it would be impossible to get a train ticket at this short notice. So the only option was to cover approximately 1200 km by road in a bus. Sounds a lot, but it turned out to be super fun. We rested the day we arrived and the next day was an unbelievable journey to buy our bus tickets, an adventure in itself.

We set off in the early evening from the house, we had to catch a Tum tum (an oversized rickshaw) that had eleven people already in it to get to Rajeev chowk. Once we were there we caught a normal rickshaw that took us up to the border of Gurgaon and Delhi.

We waited for twenty minutes here before hopping onto a Delhi public transport bus, surprise surprise the conductor of the bus is smoking and making fun of the passengers. It was strange to see something like this, in Mumbai no one is allowed to smoke in buses, this behavior by a bus conductor was odd.

Another comparison, in Delhi the conductor sits on a seat and you have to go to him for a ticket, if the ticket collector steps in and you do not have a ticket, you are charged. We were in Delhi, but the journey was not over a short walk and then a rickshaw to take us to the metro.

From the metro we got off and took a peddling rickshaw and at last we reached the spot where we could get our bus tickets. We got tickets for a bus to Udaipur and then from Udaipur to Mumbai. It was going to be a long long bus ride back, but we thought it would be a good way to end our adventure around Himachal.

The journey was pleasant, we had a nice double sleeper to ourselves that was quite comfortable. The bus left a little later than expected from Delhi, we were in no hurry but just relieved to be in a double sleeper. It stopped on the way for dinner, and then somewhere in Rajasthan early morning for tea.

On the way we spotted a government authorized bhang shop, a drink made out of Marijuana.
The journey through Rajasthan was scenic, the landscape so different, India is really a huge country with so much of variation in nature and cultures in every state and sometimes within the state as well.

We passed by rivers and trees, houses made of mud and some of concrete. By noon we were in Udaipur, it was getting really hot, the dry heat of the desert can really get to you. When we got off the bus we confirmed the timing for the connecting bus to Mumbai, which would depart after four and half hours. This time, not really tired, instead of resting we decided to hire a rickshaw to take us to a hotel, then a site-seeing tour around Udaipur and then head back to the hotel and finally the bus stop. For the entire trip he charged us Rs 400.

We chugged down a couple of beers, freshened up, had a quick meal and were on our way in the rickshaw. To be honest some of the sites in Udaipur are hilarious like the one below, Swaroop Sagar which is a man made lake!

The next stop was a little garden called the Aravali Vatika garden, this too was a funny destination for a tourist, its just a tiny little garden with nothing really fascinating, we were wondering what kind of a site seeing tour this is!

Next was the stretch of Fateh Sagar lake, this place I recollected, I had seen it ages ago with my parents, we had driven around a huge part of India. The stretch of road and the particular spot where the shops were present had not changed.

Far away in the distance we could see a statue of a man on a horse. We were told that it was Maharana Pratap and his trusted horse Chetak. The horse Chetak also has a circle named after it in Udaipur.

On the same stretch our rickshaw driver stopped and asked us if we wanted to ride a horse or camel, I was not keen but Bhavika really wanted to. So she sat on the camel and was as you can clearly see terrified to an extent. Though she still claims she enjoyed it.


We were on the same stretch of Fateh Sagar Lake and came across a sign asking people to keep the place clean, while two dogs napped under it thankful for the shade provided from the scorching sun.
We asked the rickshaw driver to halt in order to capture the paintings on the facade of a toilet. Little ahead we saw another colorful stretch filled with traditional paintings, symbolising the culture of Rajasthan. Its a such treat to have pictures on a space which would other wise be dull and blank. It certainly would be pleasant to spend an evening at the promenade staring into the lake. Pictures speak a thousand words, and the wall enclosing another tourist attraction, Saheliyon ki Bari, was painted with different scenes depicting the lifestyle of people from this vibrant state.
Saheliyon ki Bari meaning Garden of the Maids, is a popular tourist attraction in Udaipur. It has an interesting story as well. The garden was built in the 18th century by Maharana Sangram Singh as a retreat for his queen and 48 maids who accompanied her to Udaipur as part of her dowry. It gives a glimpse of their bygone lifestyle. The long walk ways, lush green lawns, blooming flowers, surrounded by fountains, chiseled kiosks and marble elephants take you on a different journey through time. There were three huge gates before you enter a courtyard with a central tank that had a white marble umbrella-shaped fountain in the center and black marble umbrella-shaped sheds at the corners. I could imagine the royal ladies relaxing by the water body, and enjoying the surroundings. Our rickshaw driver-cum-guide told us that many Hindi films have been shot here, although I am not sure which ones. The majestic garden is worth a visit. Next we moved on to City Palace, which is on the banks of Lake Pichola. The entry was some Rs 50 per person, but to take the camera in they were charging Rs 500, which was way too expensive for a short time, and there was no place we could leave the camera. So we skipped City Palace, and instead had some sweet soda at one of the stalls to cool down from the terrible heat in Udaipur.

Outside such a popular tourist location there had to be souvenir and handicraft shops cluttered on either sides of the road. Jagat Shiromaniji temple outside the entrance to City palace. We had to catch the connecting bus to Mumbai in less than two hours, so there was not time left. We made quick visit to Lake Pichola, an artificial fresh water lake, and the adjacent Bagore ki Haveli. Lake Pichola had dried up due to lack of rain, and it also faces threats due to dumping of solid, liquid waste, disposal of sewage etc.

That's the Lake Palace heritage hotel built in the middle of the dried lake. A shepherd with his herd of sheep that had finished grazing on the grass around the palace. On the banks of Pichola is the 18th century built, Bagore ki Haveli, which has been converted into a museum. While walking out to enter the haveli, the old man starts playing tunes on his Sarinda, he displayed some skills to coax us into buying one of them, we ended up tipping him for his melodious tunes instead. The Palace was built in the 18th century and restored in the 1980s and then a museum was set up in its complex. The entry is very small of Rs 5 to Rs 10, and no extra cost for the camera. While we walked around the huge haveli, an old man played a traditional Rajasthani instrument to add to the experience. In the corridor was this huge chariot, known as Indra viman, constructed 125 years ago by Rajasthan of Jhalawar. Its made of iron, wood, bamboo and leather, and was pulled by two elephants. The local deity was carried in this chariot in a procession during religious festivals. The haveli has 138 rooms, balconies, courtyards, terraces and numerous corridors. That's why it took 5 years to carry out the restoration work in this haveli.
The walk through the corridor was amazing, I couldn't imagine walking through 138 rooms, how did they manage in the olden times? Of course they had servants, maids etc., but how many rooms were actually used? Would they remember the location of each room? Countless questions like these crossed my mind as I tried to make most of the short time we had here.

Right on the first level was the royal dressing room. The colorful glass in the interiors was fascinating, there was a small opening at the bottom of it and a mattress at the side of it. Probably a place to sit and enjoy a cup of tea. Also on display were jewelery boxes and trunks. From there we entered the entertainment room where the Mewar family played some popular indoor games like chess, snakes and ladders, chaupad, to name a few. In this room, women of the royal household played during leisure hours with their friends. One of the rooms showed photos of the restoration work in progress at the haveli, and they looked so different and the haveli was in a dilapidated condition.
A stroll around the haveli you will see the private quarters of the royal ladies, bath rooms, dressing rooms, bed rooms, living rooms, worship rooms and recreation rooms.

Just at the steps leading to the lower level, displayed on the wall was this beautiful peacock work created with small pieces of colored glass, it really captivates your imagination. In another room a giant-sized turban is on display, made in such a way that each side gives you a different style of wearing it in different states. This is the turban of Rajasthan, a different style in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The basement had various wall paintings, frescoes, murals depicting the lifestyle, customs of the royal family. I am not sure as to what this depicts, a bird flying out of a man's mouth, seems very interesting! The haveli is lit up in the evening and it stages traditional dance and cultural performance. So many tourists come to enjoy the cultural event in a perfect ambiance.

We rushed back to the rickshaw which took us to the hotel where our bags were kept, we cleared the bill, the room was for Rs 300 for just 4 hours, and the food too was quite reasonable.

We reached on time for the bus, our tickets to Mumbai were of non-AC sleeper, but for some reason we were lucky to get shifted into AC at no extra cost. Of course the bus company tried to coax us to shift to the AC for a very cheap deal, but we refused and in the end they just shifted us as they had sold our seats to some other passengers.

We thoroughly enjoyed the bus ride, it was so much better than the train journey. We got our own space in the bus, we could chill and enjoy the end of our month-long trip to Himachal. It was a memorable trip that took us to some beautiful places, some untouched, some commercial. we met lovely and heart-warming locals, who were so hospitable that words are difficult to describe. That's the excitement of traveling, we hope we can embark on a new journey real soon! Read the complete post...